Los-Angeles-based developer DealPoint Merrill has proposed buying and demolishing the former Sears building at Richmond Town Square, shown here, and building in its place and on surrounding acreage, a hotel, apartments, more retail and amenities. The firm has already purchased the mall's former Macy's building and is renovating it for use as a CubeSmart self-storage facility.(Jeff Piorkowski/special to cleveland.com)

RICHMOND HEIGHTS, Ohio -- DealPoint Merrill, the California firm now in the midst of repurposing the former 162,000-square-foot Macy's building at Richmond Town Square for use as a CubeSmart self-storage facility, has come back to city leadership with an even grander plan for the mall property.

DealPoint Merrill CEO David Frank was in Richmond Heights June 13 to meet with members of City Council and the Planning Commission and to tell of a $69 million plan that would see the demolition of the former Sears building at Richmond Town Square.

In its place, and in the parking lot property that surrounds the building, DealPoint Merrill is proposing mixed-use revitalization plans that would include 375 apartments within a four-story building, with space under the building for 662 parking spaces; a two-story 10,000-square-foot retail space; a 98-key, four-story hotel, with an additional 100 parking spaces; a 0.4-acre park; realignment of the mall's ring road on the former Sears side; an outparcel that would accommodate an 8,000-square-foot restaurant, with 100 parking spaces; and a valet stationed at the mall entrance to serve mall shoppers.

The plan would also entail maintaining the existing loading areas for the mall, the former Macy's building and the Regal Cinema 20 theater; providing 154 additional parking spaces; and "annexing" a two-acre portion of mall property for additional amenities and another 115 parking spaces.

The mall property is broken up into three parts.

DealPoint Merrill last year purchased the former Macy's building, which closed in 2015, and its surrounding lot -- all told, nine acres -- for $2 million. It is now putting $8 million into the site for CubeSmart renovation. Plans also call for one or two outparcels for restaurants along Richmond Road. DealPointMerrill, according to its lawyer, Kenneth Fisher, is still in talks with restaurants Chili's and Golden Corral.

Sears, which closed in March 2017, owns its former building, and the remainder of the mall is owned by Mike Kohan's Richmond Town Square Holdings, of Great Neck, N.Y.

"It's really in the concept stage," Mayor David Roche said of DealPoint Merrill's latest plans. "The concept has been in the works for a while."

While he remains cautious in talking about the ambitious plan, Roche added: "I think this is great. He's (David Frank) had a good rapport with us while he's been working on Macy's, and with what we've done with that development."

"The city's been very cooperative," Fisher concurred when speaking of DealPoint Merrill's desire to do more business within Richmond Heights. "(DealPoint Merrill) is ready to go with this. The financing is there."

What remains to be done, from the city's perspective, is changing zoning on the 22-acre development area. A hotel and apartments are not now permitted on the mall site. The Planning Commission will discuss the zoning matter at its July 11 meeting.

City Council had a first reading on amending its ordinances to allow for such uses within the B2 Business District on June 26. It is expected to have a second reading at its July 24 meeting. Council could approve the entire plan in July or August.

Fisher said of DealPoint Merrill: "They're ready to go with this. They would start early next year."

Work on CubeSmart began in June and is expected to take about six months to complete.

Roche acknowledged that the most difficult part of the plan to make successful might be the hotel.

"We're not located along a freeway," he said.

Still, he pointed to the Eastwood Mall in Niles, Ohio, built in 1969, which serves the Youngstown-Warren area. It is not located on a freeway, but there are three motels within 4.4 miles of that mall.

"So," Roche said, "it's (a hotel) not out of the question."

The hotel, like the proposed restaurant, would be built along Richmond Road.

Roche said that the apartment and hotels at Richmond Town Square, which dates to 1966, would have "walkability" going for them.

"You would be within walking distance of the restaurants at the mall, and a 20-seat theater," he said.

"We've got good traffic patterns on Richmond Road and Monticello (Boulevard), and we're always trying to be business friendly.

"These would be Class A apartments," Roche continued, "one- and two-bedroom, with high ceilings. More upscale.

"We have 1,700 apartment (units) in the city, but most of them are about 40 years old. This could be something good for people who want more."

Councilman Jeremy Kumin, also making it clear that the proposal is still in the planning stages, said he and other city leaders are, nonetheless, "excited about the possibilities.

"Over the past few years, it has become apparent that Richmond Town Square has to change in order to survive," Kumin stated in an email to cleveland.com. "The purchase of the former Macy's space, and its conversion to indoor storage, made it obvious that the mall needs no transition from retail space to 'something' else.

"Even our master plan, even though it has not yet been approved, suggests a mixed-use format for the mall area," Kumin wrote. "We are thrilled that DealPoint Merrill has seen something in Richmond Heights and its leadership that's caused them to want to invest further at the mall.

"The addition of Class A apartments, small retail, restaurant(s), and potentially even a hotel, will bring a new generation of residents to the city, and that is a very exciting prospect beyond the immediate impact of (DealPoint Merrill's) rather significant investment."